Earlier in the day, Hisao Nakai found himself lost in thought as he stood outside Yamaku's entrance. The gate looked far too pompous for what it was. In fact, gates, in general, seem to do that, but this one especially so. Red bricks, black wrought iron and grey plaster, assembled into a whole that didn't feel welcoming at all. I wondered if it looked like what a gate for a school should look like, but couldn't really decide. Probably no...

Not wanting to linger around the gate, Hisao entered through it at a brisk pace that felt surprisingly good to him. Moving forward feels good. He continued towards the main building of Yamaku Academy at a brisk pace. I'm alone, as my parents are taking my stuff to the dorms, and there's supposed to be someone waiting for me.

The grounds are incredibly lush, filled with green. It doesn't feel like the kind of grounds a school would have, more like a park, with a clean walkway going past trees and the smell of fresh-cut grass and all other park-like things. Words like "clean" and "hygienic" pop into my mind. Hisao shudders at the thought, he shakes his head in an attempt to ward them off. Stay open-minded now. It's your new life. You have to take it as it comes. That's what I tell myself.

A few big buildings loom behind the leafy canopies, too big and too many for just a school. Everything seems off; it's different from what I thought I knew about schools. It's an uncanny valley. Even though I was told this is my new school, in the back of my head it doesn't feel like one. I wonder if the feeling is real or caused by my expectations of a school for the disabled. Speaking of that, I don't see anyone else here. It's kinda eerie. It makes me wish there was somebody here so I could anchor myself to something tangible instead of having this feeling that I stepped into another dimension.

The trees hum with the wind and the green hues flash all around, catching Hisao's attention. It makes me think about hospitals again, how they say the operating rooms are painted green because green is a calming colour. So why am I feeling so anxious, despite all this greenery?

o—o

Only after Hisao stood in front of the haughty main building, did he realize why the gate bothered him so. It was the last chance I had to turn back, even if I had no life I could return to. But still, after entering, there was absolutely no way I could go back anymore.

Feeling nervous and with this realization set in his head, he opened the front door. A tall man with bad posture noticed Hisao as he entered.

"You must be... Ni... Na... Niki?" The man speaks in an unsure tone as he attempts to recall the student's name.

"Nakai." Hisao corrects.

"So you are. Excellent. I'm your homeroom and science teacher. My name is Mutou. Welcome."

They exchange a handshake that is neither firm nor sloppy, and he looks at his watch. "The head nurse asked you for a brief check-in visit, but there's no time for that now."

"Oh. Should I go later?"

"Yes, the afternoon is probably fine. We should get going and introduce you to the rest of the class. They're waiting already."

Waiting for me? I don't really like being the centre of attention, but I guess it's inevitable in a situation like this. Somehow, not knowing what is waiting for me makes me feel really nervous. Thinking of this, Hisao almost misses what the teacher is saying.

"Do you want to introduce yourself to the class?"

"Yeah, sure. I mean, isn't that normal?"

"Of course. But not everyone likes to be at the centre of attention."

I'm probably one of those people, but I guess I should be the one to give the first impression of myself.

"Right, but it's no problem."

"Let's go then."

Hisao's heart is pounding in his chest and it keeps him thinking about his condition as he followed the teacher up the stairs. The third door down the third-floor corridor is marked as the classroom for class 3-3.

Mutou opens the door and enters. "Good morning everyone, sorry I'm late again."

Hisao hesitates for a split second at the door, freezing on the spot. Ah, get a grip! This is a big step, I know that... But there isn't any point in worrying so much about it, at least not this soon.

He follows the teacher into the classroom and takes a quick look around, partially so he wouldn't have to meet the curious gazes of his new classmates.

It's pretty spacious; the ceiling is unusually high and there's lots of space left over around and in between the desks. An entire wall is taken up by blackboards and the high, old fashioned windows only make it seem larger. The students' desks are just standard wooden desks with a shelf underneath for books and wooden chairs with metal frames. Simple and efficient. Hisao observes as he stopped walking in front of the classroom and turned to face the other students.

They all look normal, like students in any other school. But then, why would they be here? They're probably like me and have something wrong with them, only it's just not immediately obvious. Then, he notices one of the girls seems to be missing the thumb of her right hand. It's a little jarring. Despite the natural tendency to listen when someone's talking about you, Hisao tuned out the teacher's speech halfway through while he introduces the new student to the class. I notice a flash of dark hair and see that someone is looking at me. A girl with really long, straight hair like that is pretty eye-catching. As she sees Hisao looking back at her, she covers her face with her hands. There is one boy with a cane leaning against the lockers at the rear of the class. It's weird seeing someone so young with a cane. Another girl seems to be making some weird hand motions. Sign language? She peers at Hisao over the rims of her glasses for a second, then goes back to whatever she's doing. She's kind of cute. So is the cheery-looking girl with pink hair sitting next to her. She's really hard to miss; I don't know how I didn't notice her the moment I walked in...

"...please welcome our newest classmate."

Mutou claps his hands and so does everyone else, except one girl in the first row who has only one hand. Hisao cringes a little but hides it by bowing in thanks for applause he felt he did not deserve.

A collective silence signals that I should open my mouth now.

"So... I'm Hisao Nakai." He introduces himself, a slight awkward air following him.

And after that?

"My hobbies are reading and soccer. I hope to get along well with everyone even though I'm a new student."

And after that? I'm being so boring. This is exactly like every self-introduction ever. I should say something more. Something more exciting. He ends up saying nothing, and the teacher picks up from there. Everyone seems to be satisfied even with what little I said, though. A few girls are whispering to each other, throwing glances at me. It could've gone worse. ...

Hisao listens in to the teacher as he drones about getting along while letting his gaze sweep across the classroom. Everyone seems to be listening to him intently and when he's done, they clap their hands again which feels like a weird thing to do. The first-row girl claps on this round, with her one hand against her other wrist that ends in a bandaged stump. It makes me feel a little bad.

"We're going to be doing some group work today, so that'll give you a chance to talk with everyone. Is that okay with you?" Mutou explains, finishing with a question that appears rhetorical.

"Yeah, it's fine with me."

"That's good, you can work with Hakamichi. She is the class representative. She can explain anything you might want to know. And who else would be able to do that better, right?"

How could I know? The teacher passes out the day's assignments and announces that we will be working in groups of three. It hits me that I don't know who Hakamichi is. Slow.

The teacher seems to catch Hisao's helpless expression. "Oh, right. Hakamichi is right there, Shizune Hakamichi."

As he calls out her name, the cute, bubbly looking girl with bright pink hair and gold eyes waves her hand at Hisao. He takes a seat next to her, by the window.

"Hey, I guess you're Hakamichi, right? It's nice to meet you."

"Hahaha~!"

What? I'm caught off guard by her laughter.

"It's nice to meet you, too! But~! I'm not Hakamichi, I'm Misha! This is Hakamichi. Shicchan~!" Giggling, Misha points to the girl next to her, the one Hisao saw using sign language before.

It looks like she has been staring at me this whole time. She nods once nonchalantly to show that she acknowledges his presence, but only barely. She has short, yet carefully, neatly brushed hair, a pair of oval-shaped glasses balanced on the tip of a dainty nose, and dark blue eyes that seem to alternate every few seconds between analytical and slightly bored.

"It's nice to meet you."

She immediately looks at Misha, who smiles and makes a few quick gestures with her hands. Shizune nods and makes a few gestures of her own. I start to wonder if the teacher was messing with me, saying things like "you'll be able to talk to people" and "who better to explain things to you."

"..."

"I can see you're a little confused, right? Right? But, I understand why you would think I was Shicchan! Shicchan is deaf, so I'm the person who translates things back and forth for her. I'm like an interpreter~! She says it's nice to meet you, too!" Misha explains, translating for Shizune as she does so.

"..." Shizune signs with a curious look in her eyes.

"You're the new student, aren't you? Well, Shicchan, of course, he is! If he wasn't, he would have been standing up there for no reason, right? Right~! He seems like a very interesting person, doesn't he~! We knew there was going to be a new student, but we didn't know you would be here today. So soon! Hicchan, right?" The pink-haired girl prattles on.

Hicchan...?

"Yup~! It fits, doesn't it?"

Did I say it out loud? It's just a surprise. I've never liked that nickname. "I don't really see how," Hisao responds in a disinterested voice.

"It fits~! You look just like I imagined!"

"..." The deaf girl nods before signing as if already agreeing.

"Hahahaha~! Yeah, you look just like a Hicchan!"

"I wonder why everyone seems to think so..."

"..." Shizune taps her fingers on the desk to get Misha's attention.

They gesture back and forth to each other excitedly, their hands a blur. Misha seems a little overwhelmed.

"Ahaha~! Er, sorry about that! Shicchan wants you to know that she's the class rep, so if there is anything you need to know, you can feel free to ask her."

"..."

"Do you like the school so far? We can show you around a little if you haven't had the time to walk around and... familiarize? yourself with it!"

Misha stumbles with the hard word a bit, making it stick out in her otherwise fluid translation.

"Thanks, that would be pretty helpful. Yeah, I just kind of came straight to class today."

"..."

"Hahaha~! That's no good! You should always try to learn as much as you can about where you're going before you go there. Not just with school, either~! Always! Even if it's a trip to the convenience store! Really, Shicchan? Hahaha~!"

Learn about where you're going? I guess I didn't bother to do that, or just didn't care enough to do so. I didn't look forward to this, even if I committed myself to go along with it half-assedly, but anyway. I don't say anything, and Misha signs something that ends in a shrug. What was that? It seems like it was about me. I feel like slumping over in my seat. Both of them are smiling, but that shrug hit me unexpectedly deeply.

"You look down, are you okay?"

"..."

"Don't take it the wrong way, please~! I hate it when people are afraid to ask questions! That's how people learn things, by asking~! Asking for help is perfectly normal, as much as needing help! Stop looking like you just failed a test! Wahahaha~!"

"All right."

"..."

"Ah, and another thing, you don't have to call Shicchan something so formal like 'Hakamichi' or 'class rep' all the time! Just call her Shicchan~!"

A quick look of embarrassment covers Shizune's face before hastily signing. "..."

"Ahaha~! Okay, maybe that's too casual. Maybe 'Shizune' would be more appropriate?"

"..."

"Yup, yup~! 'Shizune' is fine!"

"Heh. Okay, that would be a lot easier for me."

I feel a lot more at ease. Both of them seem so friendly, so I feel like an idiot for being so apprehensive earlier. Especially about Shizune, who I assumed would be all business. Well, she still seems like that. Just less so, I guess.

"..."

"Huh? Oh, right, we haven't even touched the assignment! We should start work now, or Shicchan will get mad."

"The assignment is also kind of long, so we should start now if we want to finish it before the end of class."

"Wahaha~! That too!"

"..." Shizune glares at the two impatiently.

I don't need to know sign language to understand that. "Okay, okay, I get the message."

"..." She signs, the glare dissipating fairly quickly.

"After class, we can take a walk around the grounds together. It's a nice day today! Okay~?"

The assignment is actually very challenging to get through, combining aspects of being both difficult and unnecessarily long.

Regardless, the trio finish it a few minutes earlier than anyone else in the class, despite their late start. Shizune and Misha are really capable. They're quite different, though. The class rep is as calm and professional as she looks, while Misha is a lot more playful and girlish. Not to mention a little more easily distracted. To be honest, the two of them did most of the work. I feel guilty about that.

o—o

The clock tower bells ring, signalling the end of the period. Time for lunch. Without knowing what else to do, Hisao followed Misha, who is beckoning him into the hallway and down the stairs.

They descend below the lobby where he previously met Mutou, down to the bottom floor. Just like everything in this school, the cafeteria seems too spacious and oddly modern in contrast to the classic exterior. Its big windows open to the courtyard, towards the main gate.

"It's the cafeteria~!"

Her enthusiastic statement of the obvious makes people around them stare, but Misha doesn't seem to care so they proceed to the line. There is a rather long list of menu options. Which seems great until I realize that many of them are to accommodate students who need special diets. How nice. It almost feels like I'm back at the hospital, eating portions measured with scientific precision to meet the needs of the patients. Hisao picks something at random and follows Shizune to a table, sitting opposite her.

As he nibbled indifferently at the food he'd rather not eat, Misha poked him in the side to get his attention and pointed to Shizune.

"..."

I don't understand sign, so the point escapes me. Maybe looking at a person who 'talks' to you is proper and polite?

"Do you want to know something?"

"What?"

"About anything! We're your guides so you should ask if there is something~!"

"Hmm, I wonder… I can't think of anything, really."

"Ooh! That means we've been good guides, doesn't it, doesn't it~?"

"Eeh… if you say so."

Misha positively beams, and so does Shizune after a quick translation. Hisao only shakes his head at their somewhat exaggerated enthusiasm and shifted his focus on the food.

Misha and Shizune sign back and forth very animatedly, throwing sideways glances at the messy-haired boy but Misha refrains from translating. Maybe they are talking about secret girl stuff or something. ... I quickly notice a conversation in sign is not enough to fill the silence.

The trio arrive in the classroom early, but they're not the first. Or second. That dark-haired girl Hisao noticed before is slumped over her desk in the last row, glancing over at the only other figure in the room. A light brown-skinned boy with one eye sat on top of one of the desks that lined alongside the window; staring absentmindedly out the window.

They both jump a little when Misha crashes into the room with the elegance of a rhino. He looked over while the girl in the back shrunk deeper into her seat. I can feel her tension from here as if she were slowly turning into stone just from our presence. Misha and Shizune don't pay any mind, as they walk directly past her to and up to the casually dressed young man; Misha laughing oddly louder than usual at something Shizune signed.

"Wahahaha~!"

A/N: Yeah, I feel the appropriate way to go about this is to try and juggle canon/non-canon. I kinda enjoy working with the different perspectives. Anyways, now the story can progress!